Re: RAM usage and Opera 12

I know what you mean, but it's just an old pc, no data is stored on it & its not used for banking or anything, so there is nothing of mine at risk. I run anti malware on it too, to ensure it's not becoming part of a botnet etc and putting anyone else at risk.

RAM usage and Opera 12

I still have an XP box and have experimented with browsers for a while, as you do. Opera 12 works well on many sites, it uses very little RAM compared to when I have tried Firefox or Chrome, with multiple tabs open etc too. Chrome in particular has/had a memory leak that this Google issue thread is all about https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/86yzpxX7aws (though however do you sort that into most recent???) .

Opera 12 was an excellent browser, however some sites will no longer load nicely on it. Few good browsers are left for XP now, I tried to load SRWARE Iron but the installer for that kept failing, which is not a good sign! Anyone found any good XP browsers for this experiment?

Re: Do people really buy them

I've used them for years, excellent desktops, mine have been very stable and 100% reliable (famous last words...). They are probably not the highest spec for gamers etc, but not everyone always needs that.

Their convertible PCs are fabulous things too, used to have one from work, trialled it against all the opposition too and it won by a mile. Alas they are rather pricey, but if anyone has a spare T936 laying around I'll gladly look after it for them.

What actually is the point of the public accounts committee? Has anything ever actually changed as a result of their activities, or is it just for a bunch of non-achiever MPs to pretend they are doing something useful? I can't think of a single example ever where their involvement has changed anything and benefited anyone - would be glad to hear of any that other readers know of though...

Perhaps they shoud take this opportunity to stop giving taxpayers money to farmers and give it to those who actually need it instead. Here in East Anglia, arable farming is incredibly lucrative, with record yields every year and continuing very high grain prices.

Sadly, farming also contributes almost nothing to the local economy by way of jobs as so much of the work is mechanised.

Nothing to worry about for HMRC, having Richard Bacon on your case is like being assaulted with a damp paper bag. Not for nothing is he known as "Emperor Nero" and other less kind nicknames (actually, it is for nothing, he's famed for doing nothing, except being among the very highest claimants of MPs expenses).

Security

Is there any mention of how this will be made secure? Otherwise I can see it won't be long before a load of fake calls are being generated akin to the "swatting" that goes on when gamers etc fall out, in escalation of road-rage incidents. Or even to divert the "emergency" services to distant areas when a criminal activity is planned to occur.

Re: Cable location

Also the cable needs to come ashore in Alexandria, where the Cable Station is a very critical point on the whole global undersea cables network. Interesting article here, albeit long, on the whole subject http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass.html

As for their motives, with Egypt's renewed relations with Iran there are numerous more possibilities than before.

Could've been worse

If that had come down over Iran or Israel it could have triggered a bit of a nasty incident, and if it had crashed to earth a few thousand kilometers to the West of the Urals instead, France would probably have surrendered.

Er

"But that’s true of today’s electric cars, which have nonetheless failed to attract a large user base. That’s because they’re more expensive up front, even with government subsidies". Nope. It's because there is a very strong suspicion that it will require an extremely expensive new battery in a few years time, for which you will have to go to the car manufacturer as there is no competition at all. Oddly, the manufacturers tend to forget to mention battery lifespan or replacement costs.

Talking of forgetting to mention things, how will all the hydrogen be produced? oops.

Hmm

Re: Looks as though...

I agree, even trolling ain't what it used to be. Take this discussion- a whole page of responses about trolling and nobody has even tried to encourage people to look at lemonparty for an interesting angle on the whole topic.

Hmmm

You have to wonder whether the Country Landowners Association's motivation for this is really around improving broadband speeds or more around getting large payments for letting BT put new cables across their land. Maybe their members should all waive these payments, for the benefit of the whole rural community.

If nothing else

Repairability

I always feel repairability is very important in guiding by buying choices, and I found a really interesting teardown of it here

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-5-Teardown/10525/1

which at first indicates very promisingly that the two most common repairs- glass and battery- are nice and straightforward, actually the whole thing looks pretty good overall. However, I got all the way to the end of it before reading "The front glass, digitizer, and LCD are all one component, thereby increasing cost of repair." . Hmmph.

Re: Cables

i entirely agree... last week new poles and stuff were installed down my road by BT, download speed has gone from 1.8 to 6Mbps, which is plenty good enough for me. No idea why new copper should be so much better than old, but hey...

Upgrades

Although I can’t really see many people buying this book, the volume of information that is available on the web, and it’s variable quality, does make things difficult for people to use. I think this is particularly true for upgrades. Even if, like myself, you’re just trying to upgrade a pc graphics card to cope with a change from 17” to 23” monitor (very new fangled here), clear sources of up to date accurate info are hard to find and it’s not as if you can even rely on finding a PC shop with knowledgeable staff either. Where are people going nowadays for such advice?

Re: The ultimate engineering project - couple of hundred years

Mind bogglingly, and going by my rough calculations, in a couple of hundred years time it will still have another 73800 years to travel at the current speed before reaching the distance of our nearest star. Unless it bumps into something on the way of course.

One further side effect of these cameras... all agricultural vehicles in this area have "lost" their front numberplates since the cameras were brought in (and rear ones, if they exist, are always hidden by whatever load is being towed).

Presumably HMRC can access these cameras info, and would otherwise use that to spot that the agricultural vehicles are evading duty by using red diesel for haulage purposes.

I presume this statement is just a coincidence, coming the day after my "8Mb" Plusnet connection's down-speed recorded a new low of just 1.8Mb. Approx 4 or 5 years ago it would run at around 4Mb and even peak at 6-7Mb on occasion, and has gone downhill ever since. Maybe Mr Hunt should aspire to restore speeds to their historic levels to start with.

All change...

There seem to be many things afoot in the Murdoch world since his recent departure from various newspaper boards, and they are happening quiickly. I was very surprised to see that last Saturday's Times did not include any listings for Sky TV channels. Any predictions for what is his next move?

There’s many similar sites too, last night I looked at booking a flight through a site onthebeach.co.uk – however when I got to the card number input page I was alarmed that it is not https – a quick google of them then found that their conditions, which you have to agree to, allow them to vary the amount they have said they will charge you – how do they get away with that? Natch, didn’t book with them but feel sorry for others who do fall for it.

41mp

Re: Time for a lesson in reality

According to a brief bit of research, it cost us taxpayers £140k to imprison a young offender for a year. Which is a bit more than the 30p that the Met and the lot that were hacked in Febs conference call fiasco seem to be spending on their own security.